[jellis]

If you are nervous, you are on the right track. Your anxiety will help keep you honest and safe.
ALWAYS follow the 5 rights and 3 checks (this is a minimum)!
The mistake mentioned by yankeesrule could have been avoided if she would have asked two other staff members of the patients identity.
Don't waste your money on a book (your employer is responsible for keeping an up to date resource available to you). Books are out of date from the time they hit the shelves. Try the internet for medication research.

[TheCommuter]

I was working as a so-called "Direct Care Staff Professional" over 6 years ago. In a nutshell, I was a glorified aide who administered medications, gave showers, changed diapers, and prepared meals for 6 profoundly retarded adults in a group home for the whopping pay rate of $8 hourly.

Unlike you, I had no training or medication tech certification before being allowed to pass these meds. Even though nothing happened to any one of the residents, I can now look back and appreciate the horror of the situation and my lack of knowledge.

[yankeesrule]

I agree with you 100% Jellis. It is a mistake I will never forget, something in hindsight "should of known better" Prior to that error I was in the trained thought the unit secretary should know all the residents as they scehdule many appts from them. Thankfully the pt was ok. If I can save 1 person for making the mistake I made, its worth putting it out there. But I still hold to I wont give meds if no ID band. I no longer trust the word of 1 even 2 people. Its to scary and I dont want to walk down that road ever again.

[RNOTODAY]

Well, I will tell you this . I work at a residential faciity for children with psychiatric and behavior problems. many many meds..... well, our 'residentail counselors" as they call them, get 45 minutes.yes 45 minutes.... of "med training". this a 45 minute period during their facility orientation. It makes me cringe....... so the 4 weeks you describe? It sounds adequate, compared to 45 minutes!!!!

[DDRN4me]

My previous job was in a group home setting. The state of Massachusetts has a Medication Administration Program for direct care staff. they receive 16 hours of standardized training and then must pass a written and practical test. I still had difficulty with those who were too lazy to do everything the way they should have,,, thank goodness that what they do after they are trained did not reflect on me or my training, since they have an outside source to test!

currently in my residential setting for children, they are given only a 4 hour class i am taking it tomorrow.. so i hope that i can convince the powers that be that 4 hours is not enough!!!

[Warpster]

Amber, one help is asking your patients to look at the meds in the cup. If the patient sees anything different, catch that cup! It only takes a minute to double check everything and make sure it's not just a different manufacturer of the same med. Another is keeping the pills in the blister pack and doing your last med check at the bedside, naming each pill as you put it into the cup. If a patient says, "I don't take that," catch that cup again.

Nothing is scarier than a patient who downs a cup full of pills without looking at them.

I gave meds 40 years ago as an attendant in a state mental hospital. I was petrified the whole time. I think we had 4 hours of training, and most of that was in administering injections.

[DDRN4me]

interesting training yesterday. the content was pretty thorough , but old!! she said some things that i had to later correct her on!!!!
I have learned in this facility that the wheels of change move verrrrry slowly, mainly because the same nurses have been here for years.I did give her the curriculum that our state uses for DMR; hopefully it will help her update the class.

[Michael Hannity]

Originally Posted by poetryeclipse

Hi, I'm not sure where most of you stand on the issue of whether or not Direct Care Professionals such as myself, should be allowed to pass Medications out. I am going thru a 4 week course paid for by my employer so that I can become a Medication Technician. I start my training next week and I am very nervous because I'm not sure I will feel comfortable enough passing Meds out with only a month's worth of training. The reason I choose this career path is because I enjoy the company of the 4 individuals I work for and I would be devasted if anything were to happen to any of them because of something I did or didn't do concerning their health. Just the other day, a co-worker of mine "Accidently" mixed up 2 individuals medicines during morning meds and one individual ended up in the hospital for 5 days in the ICU.He could of died all because the med tech was paying more attention to the television than they were to the medications being passed out. Although, I dont feel comfortable. It is in my job description to pass Meds out thru out the day. What do you all think? Is a 4-week training class too short of a time frame to truely know what you are doing or am I just worrying over nothing? I was under the impression that a Nursing Assitant or an LPN usually passes out Meds in a Nursing home or in a group home setting. Maybe it all depends on where you live but I just wanted to see what your opinions were on the subject. Thanks.



Amber

Great insight. I am not sure what to tell you but I think things will work out regardless, hang in there.

[iceyspots]

That doesnt seem like enough time.. we weren't allowed to pass meds until our 2nd month of pharmacology!

[snapdragon928]

We get less training than that at the group homes. I train again the people coming into the homes before they pass meds, and they train again with a first shift and a second shift person.But before that its like a two day training at the most. I think you will be fine, you just have to pay attention closely. You personally realize the severety of passing the wrong meds. We had a simular thing happen at our home. She just had to be monitered at home for the day though. I was training a person who had been working at another home for along time, in fact she had been the supervisor. We have pictures of the clients in the book that we are supposed to look at and we are to identify the client using the picture and like two other things. I had pulled one of the clients into the kitchen because she was having behaviors off and on and she wanted to escape to her room before meds were passed. Well we got the first persons meds ready, She put them in the cup as i watched and i told her I needed to look at the meds before she passed them. I went into the other room to get the client and she passed the meds to the cleint in the room. I guess I had expected more from her as she had worked at this for along time and had been passing meds for years. I figured I didn't have to tell her to check the pictures. I also had told her I wanted to check the meds before she passed them. So while a mistake happened, and she was really sorry, I know mistakes do occur. I have made them myself.If you pass meds long enough, you are going to make a mistake. Just be sure you are following your five R's, and you should do fine. We could never make it financially if we had to have the proper nursing available at the home all the time to pass meds. I think they need more training though.